Jeff Knoblauch https://www.jeffknoblauch.com has published two novels. The Journey of Atlantis was published in 2017 and is the first book in his Atlantis series. This is the 10th book I completed reading in 2023.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! I categorize this book/novel as G. Astronomers at the Keck Observatory discover a new neutron star. After some calculations, they determine that the star is on a trajectory that will take it through the Solar System. In just 84 years, life will be extinguished.

If humanity is to survive, the people of Earth must put aside their differences and cooperate. A ship must be built and launched that will carry the seeds of humanity to a new home. Most get behind the effort, but some dissenters protest and take action against the project. Compared to Earth’s population, only a hand full will be saved on the starship Atlantis.

The novel gives a series of snapshots of progress and problems as the project progresses. These are spaced about ten years apart. As the years pass, old characters die, and new ones are introduced. They struggle with science and engineering problems. The looming deadline of the neutron star’s catastrophic arrival drives them to complete the project.

I enjoyed the 8 hours I spent reading this 301-page science fiction novel. This novel is different. It deals with many different people over almost 100 years. The story is more of a high-level summary of the project than a detailed plot. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 4 out of 5.

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this was a unique read in the scifi novel, I liked how different it was from other types in this genre. I also liked the characters and enjoyed reading this.

Review: THE JOURNEY OF ATLANTIS: LEAVING HOME by Jeff Knoblauch

To be true to its nature, Science Fiction must examine real possibilities, and this novella chooses one of the most implacably terrifying: on course directly for Earth is a Neutron Star! Since the human race sloughed off on space travel, of course there are no colony ships and no inhabitable planets as yet known. Even if one colony ship can be constructed, 99% will be left to die in the complete devastation of the Earth. Thought-provoking and compelling, both individually (What would “I” do?) and in terms of humanity (how should humanity plan in advance for such potentials?), THE JOURNEY OF ATLANTIS: LEAVING HOME will inspire more than a few sleepless nights.

This is a good book. I really enjoyed it. The characters are well developed and the story is packed with action and adventure. The author does a great job delivering a story with a solid plot and interesting subplots.

It's an interesting take on an end of world scenario. It's a great step by step guide of how humanity escapes a death sentence. I enjoyed the book.

The Journey of Atlantis reads more like a manual on how to get out of our home planet before catastrophe wipes it out.

What I liked and enjoyed thoroughly:
The step by step guide on building a ginormous ship to leave our planet behind, with some fifteen million people onboard.
The complexities on building such a ship.

What I didn't like:
All characters are two dimensional. Painted in very broad strokes.
The antagonist are just faceless factions trying to stop the ship from being built. That's it.
The protagonist are semi-faceless scientist trying to build the ship. That's it.
There's no real adventure here. Good guys work on building a ship. Bad guys try and stop it, but are thwarted at every turn.

That being said, I enjoyed the step by step guide of the endeavor. I only wish the story had some hard core sci fi information. It didn't, it was all "We found this new technology some country was working on, let's refine it and put it in the ship." How was it found? How does it work? It frustrated me a bit not having the answers to those questions.

That doesn't mean I didn't enjoyed the book. Downsides aside, I liked it.

Thank you for the opportunity at having a stab at it!

Jeff Knoblauch’s The Journey of Atlantis is a refreshing spin on an old formula. Two astronomers have discovered that a neutron star is on a collision course with the Earth. . . leaving 89 years until impact. The earth has assembled a team of experts in their respective fields to devise a plan to save mankind. Can humanity put aside their differences in order to escape Earth and save themselves?

I don’t know about you but I love a good hard SciFi novel: especially one with the technical feats required to build an interstellar spaceship with the capacity for 15 million of humanity’s finest. And that’s exactly what The Journey of Atlantis delivers. After we learn that humanity has 89 years to leave the earth, we follow “the Project” through status updates from quarterly meetings amongst the different technical heads - dubbed the “Consortium”. The Consortium includes the heads of obvious departments such as construction, mining, project security, and logistics. One of the departments that I thought was interesting were “Plant, Animal, and Materials collection” which is responsible for gathering and storing as many of Earth’s species for the trip to the new home. Another department I enjoyed hearing from was the Selection Committee, which was responsible for selecting the 15 million humans lucky enough to make the trip. . . quite the moral dilemma.
Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the Consortium’s feelings about Sonny and Alice - the A.I.s created to help the Project. Sonny and Alice are consistently vague about their methods and motivations. This leaves the Consortium, as well as the reader, trying to determine if the benefit of having a benevolent and seemingly-all-knowing ally outweighs the risk of a potentially self-concerned and all-powerful demon.

My only real complaints about this novel was the abundance of gramatical errors as well as the characters kind of sounding like they are reading a script. Nothing against the plot elements, but Knoblauch should really consider using an editor/publisher next time.

Thankyou to NetGalley, BooksGoSocial and the author, Jeff Knoblauch, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Journey of Atlantis in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Such an enthralling read, though I thought it was a bit slow in some places during the journey.
Very imaginative and highly detailed book with well developed characters. Can't wait for more.
Well worth a read.

A brilliant, well written read, which I struggled to put down, I finished within a day. I can never tire of these books.